The article asks the question,
When do you ever find time for God?Here are some of the answers:
The One-Minute Bible, Day by Day, whose brief readings promise to inspire your “daily walk with the Lord.”And let’s not forget Aunt Susie’s 10-Minute Bible Dinners: Bringing God Into Your Life One Dish at a Time.
Or check out 5 Minute Theologian: Maximum Truth in Minimum Time.
The American style of worship, like everything else in overloaded lives, is speeding up. Call it God on the go.If you need something in-between the 5 Minute Theologian and the 10-Minute Bible Dinners, there’s the 7 Minutes With God. And if your kids are as hurried as you, try The Kid Who Would Be King: One Minute Bible Stories About Kids.
This hurried search for the Almighty partly explains the rise of a niche industry of books, DVDs, podcasts, text messages and e-mail blasts that distill the essentials of faith.
Faith leaders are working to capitalize on that spiritual hunger, not just with convenience but with high production values — adding JumboTron screens, live music and other novelties to services.President of the National Association of Evangelicals, Rev. Leith Anderson, says:
“My father used to say, ‘Going to church over the radio or television is like kissing your girlfriend over the telephone,’ Anderson said. “It’s a good thing to kiss your girlfriend over the telephone. But it’s a whole lot more fun in person.”What do you think?
Like everything else, they are just trying to reach their audience by any means possible!
ReplyDeleteL. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net
In a way, these things have been around for years. I remember daily devotional cards from a long time ago. And you can get the daily calendars with scriptures.
ReplyDeleteSign of the times. Next will be "drive-thru blessings" - you just pull in line in your car, the Priest tosses some holy water on you thru the window with a "Hail Mary" and off ya go. I guess any time spent in the Word is better than nothing, but Good Lord.
ReplyDeleteThere are drive thru weddings nowadays. I believe I remember hearing about drive-thru funerals. You drive up, see the body in the coffin, drive out. In lieu of that, drive thru blessings makes sense.
ReplyDeleteHopefully people make take more than 5 minutes, but I know how hard it is to slip all reading in, even the stuff that helps calm the soul! Love the phone quote. How true! I remember these little daily scripture cards I had as a teen. A little dose of Godly advice for the day. Don't we all need that? :>)
ReplyDeleteI prefer my scripture on a t-shirt.
ReplyDeleteIt's not new.
ReplyDeleteThe Temple Daily Telegram has run a Bible verse on its front page (print) for years. And believe me, we heard about it if it went missing.
It's sort of like those Today in History columns you sometimes see. I think it's part of the AP package.
While I'm not familiar with these particular books/products, I think 5 minutes or 7 minutes a day with the Lord is more than many people spend. My own morning devotions usually take 15 minutes or so. I pray throughout the day, attend services on Sunday and Wednesday, and participate in regular Bible studies. But the time I actually sit down to read the Bible every single day isn't much more than these titles suggest. Ideally we should all spend more time, but a consistent 5, 7, or 15 minutes a day is better than a hit-or-miss schedule.
ReplyDeleteIt's the meditation part that seems important. Taking time to be still. I'm not finding the internet to be the best place for that.
ReplyDeleteMeditation is great. It may be the only quiet time some of us get -- and, you're right, you won't find it on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteMark, you're funny with the t-shirt line, but when you stop and think about it, I read people's t-shirts, think about some of them, wonder about others. T-shirts can make good billboards.
Todd, I didn't know the Temple Daily Telegram ran a daily bible verse. How interesting.